Keshpur, Oct. 23: The brother-in-law of a Trinamul zilla parishad member killed yesterday in West Midnapore by a bullet apparently aimed at her husband has filed an FIR naming 26 CPM leaders, including former minister Sushanta Ghosh.

Besides Ghosh, Harendranath Bordoloi has named Keshpur CPM zonal committee members Imtaz Ali and Haripada Hembram, Jagannathpur local committee secretary Lakshmikanta Ghosh and 22 other party members in the FIR, accusing them of hatching a murder conspiracy.

Most of those named, including former Garbeta MLA Ghosh, were released on bail last year in connection with the 2001 Keshpur multiple-murder case. None of the 26 CPM leaders lives in Keshpur, where zilla parishad member Kakoli Bordoloi was shot dead early yesterday, either because of a court restraining order or alleged threats by Trinamul.

In the FIR, Kakoli’s brother-in-law Harendranath has mentioned that Ghosh and the others were “trying to make a comeback” in the region. The FIR adds that Kakoli’s husband Biswajit, a Trinamul anchal pradhan and labour contractor who police believe was the actual target, was trying to thwart the efforts of the CPM leaders. “So they conspired to murder him, but his wife got killed instead,” Harendranath’s FIR alleges.

Asked whether any arrest had been made, the police said none had been picked up because those named in the FIR did not live in the area now.

Ghosh denied involvement in the murder. “I will seek legal opinion on this matter and then say whatever I have to,” he said over phone from Calcutta. A party colleague alleged political vendetta behind the move to name Ghosh in the FIR. “Sushantada has not been able to enter West Midnapore for the past three-and-a-half years. Including his name in the FIR is clearly a case of political vendetta,” he said.

Kakoli, 26, the youngest elected member of the West Midnapore zilla parishad, was walking towards the bathroom of her house after her husband had come out of it when she was hit by the bullet.

Leader shot at

A Trinamul anchal president was shot at in a railway station in North 24-Parganas today.

The bullet was removed from 40-year-old Ashok Bairagi’s forehead through a surgery. The condition of Bairagi, who is in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, is stated to be critical.

Police sources said the attack could be the fallout of a rivalry between two groups of cattle traders.

According to the sources, the bullet had been manufactured in a Bangladesh factory. A Bangladeshi national has been detained.